CSR in India Trends & Challenges

Stockholm

December 9th ,2010

Overview

• India

• Responsible business in the Indian context

• Variances in approach and in focus

• Trends

The non linear walk of the Indian Elephant…!!

Ground Realities for CSR

• Inequity and Poverty a driver for CSR

• Business challenged by Inadequate Infrastructure

• Reactive; not Proactive CSR

• Good Legislation but Poor Implementation

• Corruption

• Variance in governance

• CSR not trickled down to SME sector

To complete the Puzzle…

Global Issues

Community Development Ethics hand

Corporate Governance

Social Impact Assessment

Health and Safety

Employee Engagement

Variance in Approach - Size and Ownership

• MNC’s - Driven by global standards

• SME’s – Work under pressure of global markets for compliance

• Corporate – Sometimes pushed by FI’s/Global Markets – Focus on stakeholder engagement and business linked CSR

• PSU’s – Mandatory allocation of 2-5% of profits – Progressed from donations towards work in core business

areas

Variance in Approach – Industry Sectors

• IT: Employee engagement

• Transport: Environment & climate

change

• Manufacturing: Environment & labor

• Extractive Sector: Environment & communities

• Service Sector: Raising human development index

Emerging Trends in Responsible Business

• Regular discussions on ‘Responsible Business’ in business forums

• CSR embedded in organisational structure

• Demand for measuring and reporting

• Incorporating best global practices

• Proactive government – Guidelines & directives

• Media participation

• Partnerships between government, corporate & civil society

• CSR & Sustainability are becoming criteria for performance

evaluation for public sector companies

Opportunities for business

• The stage is set in India for taking CSR to next level

• Openness in Indian Companies to understand CSR

• State’s unfulfilled roles - opportunity for in nation building and inclusive development

• Be an active part of Emerging India

• Appropriate CSR leading to reputation building

Points to ponder..

• What do we incorporate into Indian operations from our global best practices to raise the bar?

• Who are the major stakeholders to engage with in India?

• What will we need to do to increase our reputation in India?

Tack